The Prevalence of Unwanted Online Sexual Exposure and Solicitation Among Youth: A Meta-Analysis.

PURPOSE: The objective of this meta-analysis was to provide a synthesis of studies examining the prevalence of unwanted online exposure and solicitation of a sexual nature among youth, and to determine if prevalence varies by youth age, gender, year of study data collection, or study geographical location. METHOD: Eligible studies from January 1990 to January 2016 were identified utilizing a comprehensive search strategy. Included studies examined the prevalence of unwanted online exposure and solicitation in youth who ranged from 12 to 16.5 years. Two independent coders extracted all relevant data. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to derive mean prevalence rates. RESULTS: Thirty-one (37,649 participants) and nine (18,272 participants) samples were included in the syntheses on unwanted online sexual exposure and solicitation, respectively. For online exposure, the mean prevalence rate was 20.3% (95% confidence interval: 17.1-23.4). For online solicitation, the mean prevalence rate was 11.5% (95% confidence interval: 9.4-13.6). Moderator analyses indicated that prevalence rates for unwanted online exposure and solicitation have decreased over time. Prevalence varied as a function of gender (solicitations were higher for males), but not age or geographical location. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one in five youth experience unwanted online exposure to sexually explicit material and one in nine youth experience online sexual solicitation. Educational campaigns to raise awareness of Internet risks and safety strategies are warranted.

Dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2), dopamine transporter solute carrier family C6, member 4 (SLC6A3), and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genes as moderators of the relation between maternal history of maltreatment and infant emotion regulation.

Although infants less than 18 months old are capable of engaging in self-regulatory behavior (e.g., avoidance, withdrawal, and orienting to other aspects of their environment), the use of self-regulatory strategies at this age (as opposed to relying on caregivers) is associated with elevated behavioral and physiological distress. This study investigated infant dopamine-related genotypes (dopamine receptor D2 [DRD2], dopamine transporter solute carrier family C6, member 4 [SLC6A3], and catechol-O-methyltransferase [COMT]) as they interact with maternal self-reported history of maltreatment to predict observed infant independent emotion regulation behavior. A community sample (N = 193) of mother-infant dyads participated in a toy frustration challenge at infant age 15 months, and infant emotion regulation behavior was coded. Buccal cells were collected for genotyping. Maternal maltreatment history significantly interacted with infant SLC6A3 and COMT genotypes, such that infants with more 10-repeat and valine alleles of SLC6A3 and COMT, respectively, relative to infants with fewer or no 10-repeat and valine alleles, utilized more independent (i.e., maladaptive) regulatory behavior if mother reported a more extensive maltreatment history, as opposed to less. The findings indicate that child genetic factors moderate the intergenerational impact of maternal maltreatment history. The results are discussed in terms of potential mechanism of Gene × Environment interaction.

Maternal DRD2, SLC6A3, and OXTR genotypes as potential moderators of the relation between maternal history of care and maternal cortisol secretion in the context of mother-infant separation.

A mother's cortisol secretion is importantly associated with her own mental health and her infant's cortisol secretion. This study investigated the influences of maternal history of care and maternal DRD2, SLC6A3, and OXTR genotypes on maternal cortisol in the context of infant stress. A community sample of 296 mother-infant dyads completed a maternal separation at infant age 17 months. Maternal salivary cortisol, buccal cells, and self-reported history of care were collected. Multilevel models revealed that history of care had a greater influence on maternal baseline cortisol (but not cortisol trajectory) for mothers with more plasticity alleles of SLC6A3 (10R) and OXTR (G), relative to mothers with fewer or no plasticity alleles. Findings indicate that a mother's history of care is related to her cortisol secretion in anticipation of infant stress, but that this relation depends on her genetic characteristics. Findings are discussed in relation to the maternal protective system and anticipatory cortisol secretion.

Representational and questionnaire measures of attachment: A meta-analysis of relations to child internalizing and externalizing problems.

Although the quality of the attachment relationship is often cited as an important determinant of development, the extent of impact of this environmental influence in shaping behavioral outcomes has been a matter of considerable debate. This may, in part, be because of the variability in methodologies used for assessing attachment across infancy, childhood, and adolescence, including behavioral, representational, and questionnaire measures of attachment. Previous meta-analyses of the relations between attachment and internalizing and externalizing problems have focused on the behavioral measures of attachment used primarily in infancy. The current meta-analysis is a comprehensive examination of the literature on attachment and behavioral problems in children aged 3-18 years, focusing on the representational and questionnaire measures most commonly used in this age range. When secure attachment was compared with insecure attachment, modest associations with internalizing behavior (165 studies; 48,224 families; d = .58; 95% confidence interval [CI] [.52-.64]) were found. Multivariate moderator analyses were used to disentangle the unique influence of each significant univariate moderator more precisely, and results revealed that effect sizes decreased as the child aged, and were larger in studies in which the participants were ethnically White, where the child was the problem informant, and when the internalizing measure was depressive symptoms. Attachment and externalizing behavior were also associated (116 studies; 24,689 families; d = .49; 95% CI [42-.56]), and effect sizes were larger in ethnically White samples, and in those where the child was the problem informant. Avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized attachment classifications were associated with internalizing behavior, but only disorganized attachment was associated with externalizing behavior.

DRD2 and SLC6A3 moderate impact of maternal depressive symptoms on infant cortisol.

Both maternal depressive symptoms and infants' dopamine-related genetic characteristics have been linked to infants' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) functioning. This study investigated the interactive influence of maternal depressive symptoms and infant DRD2 and SLC6A3 genotypes on infant cortisol reactivity; whether this interaction reflects diathesis-stress or differential susceptibility; and whether this interaction influences the flexibility of the infant cortisol response across challenges known to exert differential effects on infant cortisol reactivity. A community sample of 314 mother-infant dyads participated in toy frustration (age 16 months) and maternal separation (age 17 months) challenges, and salivary cortisol was collected at baseline, +20, and +40min. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory-II at infant age 16 months. Infant buccal cells were collected at both time points for genotyping. DRD2 and SLC6A3 genotypes moderated the relation between maternal depressive symptomatology and infant cortisol reactivity in a diathesis-stress manner in the context of toy frustration, and in a differential susceptibility manner in the context of maternal separation. Higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms predicted reduced cortisol flexibility across challenges for infants with at least one A1 allele of DRD2 and infants with the 10/10 genotype of SLC6A3. Results suggest that maternal depressive symptomatology is related to infants' cortisol reactivity and to the flexibility of that reactivity across psychosocial challenges, but this relation is dependent on the infant's genetic characteristics.

Cumulative risk, cumulative outcome: a 20-year longitudinal study.

Cumulative risk (CR) models provide some of the most robust findings in the developmental literature, predicting numerous and varied outcomes. Typically, however, these outcomes are predicted one at a time, across different samples, using concurrent designs, longitudinal designs of short duration, or retrospective designs. We predicted that a single CR index, applied within a single sample, would prospectively predict diverse outcomes, i.e., depression, intelligence, school dropout, arrest, smoking, and physical disease from childhood to adulthood. Further, we predicted that number of risk factors would predict number of adverse outcomes (cumulative outcome; CO). We also predicted that early CR (assessed at age 5/6) explains variance in CO above and beyond that explained by subsequent risk (assessed at ages 12/13 and 19/20). The sample consisted of 284 individuals, 48% of whom were diagnosed with a speech/language disorder. Cumulative risk, assessed at 5/6-, 12/13-, and 19/20-years-old, predicted aforementioned outcomes at age 25/26 in every instance. Furthermore, number of risk factors was positively associated with number of negative outcomes. Finally, early risk accounted for variance beyond that explained by later risk in the prediction of CO. We discuss these findings in terms of five criteria posed by these data, positing a "mediated net of adversity" model, suggesting that CR may increase some central integrative factor, simultaneously augmenting risk across cognitive, quality of life, psychiatric and physical health outcomes.

A behavioral genetic study of the dark triad of personality and moral development.

The present study is the first behavioral genetic investigation of relationships between the Dark Triad of personality--Machiavellianism, narcissism, and subclinical psychopathy--and moral development. Participants were 154 monozygotic twin pairs and 82 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs. Higher scores on Machiavellianism and psychopathy were positively correlated with low levels of moral development; high psychopathy scores also correlated negatively with high levels of moral development. Individual differences in lower levels of moral development were attributable to genetic and nonshared environmental factors but, very interestingly, individual differences in the highest levels of moral development showed no genetic basis but were entirely attributable to shared and nonshared environmental factors. Finally, correlations between the Dark Triad and moral development variables showed no genetic basis while correlations among the moral development variables were variously attributable to correlated genetic and correlated environmental factors.

Phenotypic and genetic associations between the big five and trait emotional intelligence.

This study reports the first behavioral genetic investigation of the extent to which genetic and/or environmental factors contribute to the relationship between the Big Five personality factors and trait emotional intelligence. 213 pairs of adult monozygotic twins and 103 pairs of same-sex dizygotic twins completed the NEO-PI-R and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue). Replicating previous non-twin studies, many significant phenotypic correlations were found between the Big Five factors - especially Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness - and the facets, factors, and global scores derived from the TEIQue. Bivariate behavioral genetic model-fitting analyses revealed that these phenotypic correlations were primarily attributable to correlated genetic factors and secondarily to correlated non-shared environmental factors. The results support the feasibility of incorporating EI as a trait within existing personality taxonomies.